Could this be the last season in Orlando for franchise poster-boy Dwight Howard? If the front office sees sense, it should be

Dwight Howard’s decision yesterday that he wants to stay in Orlando – this season, and possibly next season – was a stunning about-turn for a man who has been openly courting trade rumours since the middle of 2011. And beyond that, it resembled a massive slap in the face for everyone involved in the Magic organisation.

Amid all the stories, rumours, make-believe and hyperbole coming out of central Florida in the last two or three weeks have been some positively disturbing suggestions. The idea that team president Alex Martins told Howard that he could choose whether or not GM Otis Smith and head coach Stan Van Gundy were fired or retained was particularly troubling – if only because it’s not that hard to believe that this might actually be true.